


the world isn't ready (for you and i)

by butmaybeweare



Category: Wonder Woman (Movies - Jenkins), wonder woman 1984 - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, It's complicated alright, a bit of, and i won't stand for it, but mainly, cause i'm soft like that, enough for me to write this in my sleep deprived state of mind, god he should have stayed dead, i just wanted some goddamn friends girl superheroes but you couldn't even give me that, murderous spite, no beta we die like chris pine should have, so i made them lesbians(TM), so much so that ignited in me something i've never felt before, stinky steve appears for like 0.1 seconds - TW, thank you dc, this movie had a total of 100 percent unwanted chris pine in it, you can't put kristen wiig falling in love with gal gadot on my screen and expect me not to sin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:27:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28325310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butmaybeweare/pseuds/butmaybeweare
Summary: Diana's world had shifted when she'd met Barbara. And now, of course, Barbara wanted to kill her.or: a slight reimagining of the movie Wonder Woman 1984
Relationships: Diana (Wonder Woman)/Barbara Minerva
Comments: 88
Kudos: 586





	the world isn't ready (for you and i)

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first time my spite has pushed me beyond the barriers of insanity for long enough so as to actually finish something, so hurray dc. that's some achievement. the girls deserved more than one meal together before it all goes to hell. gawd i hate it here. if nothing makes sense in this story, i blame canon for not making sense in the first place.

There was a strange stillness when she reached land. Out of all of the things she had expected would be waiting for her in a secret government base holding access to the most powerful satellite transmitter in the world, silence wasn’t the one she’d been expecting. But the silence didn’t mean she was alone. 

She could feel the eyes watching her from the shadow. She knew her every movement was being tracked. And the fact that she knew not of which shadow that dreadful feeling was coming from told her who it was that lurked there. 

The only one with a power that matched her own. 

“Come out and face me already,” she commanded, searching the darkness with a temperance that could only be attained through many a year of training. It was a good thing she’d had more than many. 

“Now now, Diana,” a voice purred from the shadow, familiar and yet so foreign. And big, glowing eyes shone from the dark. “Is that anyway to greet a friend?” 

And then a flash of white, and she barely had time to close Asteria’s golden wings around her before sharp, razor-like objects were clawing into them. The assault was ferocious, each strike with enough force to destabilise her if she allowed her guard down. But her stance would hold. 

And then the armour started to give in. A dent became a crack, and then whole golden feathers were being stripped from the wings. It was only a matter of time before one of the hits connected. 

Her time for stalling was running out. And so when the body next clashed against her golden shield, she pulled the oldest trick in the book, and her opponent was sent flying backwards, landing with a loud thud against rock. _Use their own momentum against them_. There was one she had taught that trick to a long time ago, one she had indeed called ‘friend’. But, as it happened, 

“You are not my friend.”

And indeed, the sight that lay before her was anything but. Soft skin had been replaced at every inch by pale fur, hands turned to paws, fingers turned to claws. A tail and ears now stood where there should have been none. And her eyes… her eyes were blood red. 

Whatever of her friend she had deluded herself into seeing before in her, now was clearly gone. 

“My friend is called Barbara Minerva. Whoever the hell you are, you are not her.” 

A dark laugh echoed in the night. “You wound me, Diana. A bit of fur and it’s all ‘if I ever met you I can’t remember’. Expected better from a girl who’s been dating her long dead lover in the body of an oversized chipmunk.” 

When she leapt back towards her, Diana was waiting for her. And for the second time, the blonde was swept to the floor when her own force of assault was turned against her. Her body hit the ground again. 

“It’s not because you don’t look like her. Barbara Minerva would never have fallen for the same trick twice, she is far too clever for that. She is sweet and funny and so very special. And above all, she is kind.” Her voice hardened. “But you are none of those things.” 

The white feline was circling her, glowing eyes and sharp teeth ready to strike again. But instead she hissed, and when she spoke, her tone dripped fury. 

“I was kind because I was weak. I was kind because I had no other choice, because I had to survive. But now I am strong beyond needing to kiss anyone’s ass to get what I need.”

“Barbara is kind,” Diana rebuked, not letting the words she knew her friend, her Barbara, didn’t really think sink in on her and speak of how far gone Barbara really was, “because she is _strong_ , in ways you and I could never hope to understand. And every day she wakes up and puts a smile to chase away the starkness of the day, and brings food to people like Leon who are starving, and gives a damn about people like me who don’t deserve it. You could only wish you possessed strength like that.”

The predator was inches from her now, so close Diana could feel the inhuman heat that radiated from her. So close that red was almost everything she could see. So close that she felt more than heard the words that next left the other’s mouth. 

“Let me show you what real strength looks like.”

And then the sound of clashing metal and claw filled the air once more, but this time there were no wings to stand between them. 

Matched powers clashed, and the world crumbled around them as they fought, unbroken. Each punch, each move was matched perfectly by the other. And with each second wasted, the world went darker. And yet they fought, through air and ground and lastly, water. 

And it was then that Diana saw the balance was no longer in equilibrium. For threatening to fall, sparking not a foot above the water, was a loose electric cable. 

“Stop,” she shouted to the unyielding force that was holding her down. 

But the feline didn’t relent. “I won’t let you get to him, Diana. This power is the best thing that’s happened to me, and I won’t let you take it away.”

She wanted to tell her. Wanted to make her see, wanted for her to understand. How much her power was costing her. How much the crystal was taking from her with every moment she kept those powers she held so highly. Wanted so much… but the cable was seconds from falling to the water. Her time was running out. 

“Please,” she begged, begged to the gods, begged to the Barbara she wasn’t sure was still there anymore, “renounce your wish.”

But there are things no amount of wishing can achieve. 

“Never.”

There are things that no amount of wishing can change. 

“Then you leave me no other choice.”

And she let herself be pulled under the water surface, taking the still striking predator down with her. Then the cable hit the water. 

The effect was immediate. Bolts of electricity could be seen expanding like veins through the water. Almost too beautiful to be deadly. And then her assailant’s attack was put to an end as her claws and fangs were immobilised. As her whole body stiffened, unable to do anything but convulse. 

She should wait. Wait for her whole body to still, make sure this would debilitate her enough to stop posing a threat. 

She couldn’t. 

When she deposited her on dry land, however, her body was completely motionless. And cold. But she was still breathing, if haphazardly, and Diana let herself feel the small wave of relief that coursed through her. She cupped the blonde’s face in her hands and allowed long lost words of her people to flow freely out of her, praying to the gods they would keep her safe. 

She would come back to her as soon as she was finished with Max Lord, she promised. She hoped she would forgive her once she could think clearly again. She hoped she would see her friend again. She hoped this hadn’t been for nothing. 

_I’m sorry, Barbara_ , was her last thought as she tore herself from the woman, turning her gaze to the awaiting building. 

*

Her plan had failed. Not too surprisingly. She had had little hope of stopping the transmission, and even less of managing to get to him in order to do what was needed of her. And yet, as she lay pinned to the wall and unable to do anything but stare as the man continued to grant the wishes of millions and millions of people, the stupidity and rashness of it all seemed all the more glaringly evident. “I grant it, I grant it!” was the crazed chant that echoed loudly around the room, answering desperate prayers that did not yet know it would take even more than it gave. But the worst part is she could hear them. She could hear them wish, and she could hear them regret. She could hear the desperate cries praying for forgiveness. And she couldn’t do anything to stop it.

“Ah, my favorite predator.” The man’s deranged cries were suddenly halted. And forcing herself to see past the mist and wind that surrounded him, Diana could see why. “I knew you’d come to finish the job. Right on time! It was starting to get pretty crowded in here.”

The almost human form made its way across the room untouched by the unrelenting winds, a slight limp the only reminder of their fight. Diana cursed inwardly, the knowledge she should have done more to render her a useless opponent gnawing at her. Years of excruciating training had bellowed to cause more permanent damage, to have let her sink in that water longer as the current charred deep within her nervous system. But she had been weak, she knew. She had let emotions get the best of her, let herself hold to vain hope and ignore reality. And now she must pay the price. So she just waits, and accepts the fate that her actions have wrought for her. 

It isn’t until the white figure is upon her, pulling her to her feet with a firm paw closed around her neck, that she can fully appreciate the damage she has caused. The fur is dripping water, and there are patches there, skin amidst the hair, where the electricity has left its mark. And her eyes. Her eyes shine in hues of newly spilled blood. Strange last thoughts for one about to be murdered, she thinks. And yet she cannot stop looking into those ruby eyes, even as the pressure around her neck increases. 

“Enough foreplay, Cheetah. Do it. Now.” 

And then she sees it. The ocean. The sky. Blue chases away red and it’s her again. Those eyes she’d thought long gone from the one that she had once had the privilege of calling her friend. 

And the pressure stops. And the eyes are no longer focused on her. 

“I am not weak.” 

The next thing that can be heard is a scream ringing around the room. And the other woman is falling to the floor on the opposite side of it, the sound of clashing metal almost deafening. 

“Would you look at that. The girls are teaming up against all odds! Girl power! I love girl power!! What I don’t like so much are people suddenly getting morals. Pesky things, always stopping you from seeing the bigger goal. A small-minded view of the world, all stuck into good and bad boxes,” Max Lord lamented, his voice too hysterical for the words to sound like anything but a madman’s cries. “Too bad! You ruined a perfectly good villain, golden girl. Hope you’re happy. For that, I’ll kill you last so you can watch her die before your very eyes. How does that sound? Or I kill you two together and be done with it! For equality and all that.” And then the rest was lost to a mad cry of laughter. 

But it didn’t matter, because the split-second distraction had been enough. Because now, the Lasso of Truth was tightly wrapped around the man’s ankle, even if she couldn’t muster the strength to do more than hold it tightly in her grip. Because she didn’t need to kill him. Because the world and the people, she realised, were more beautiful and compassionate than she had allowed herself to hope. 

And when she spoke, though her words were meant for the world, her eyes could only stare at the form on the opposite side of the room, whose own eyes were looking right back. 

“Please, give up your wish…”

*

It worked. The people of the world had responded. The world had come into its own again. And the wish stone was no more. 

But it didn’t feel like a victory. Not when from the other side of the room came a laboured breathing that broke the silence and Diana’s short-lived ease of mind at their victory. 

“Barbara.” She was at her side before she could think better of it. It was a good thing these past few days she didn’t seem to do much thinking at all. Barbara — _her_ Barbara, she noticed with no small amount of relief surging through her even if briefly, without claws or fur or blood red eyes — was laying on the floor, holding herself up with visible difficulty. Her body was covered in wounds. She did her best not to wince. “Barbara, are you okay?” 

“We’re back to Barbara now.” Her voice was cold, and her eyes were merciless as they bore into hers. A wry smile made its way to her face. “Splendid.” 

Diana did not back away, but her voice was almost soft when she spoke again. “I am sorry for what I did, Barbara. I had no other—” 

“Yeah. I get it. It’s fine.” 

Diana swallowed. “Fine” was not the word she’d use to describe the state of the other woman. She was shaking slightly, despite her best efforts to suppress it. Her clothes were half-torn, and long streaks of mascara ran down her cheeks. Her heart constricted. 

“Thank you for coming to my aid. I—” 

“Don’t thank me,” the other woman cut her off. Her eyes didn’t meet Diana’s. Diana wished they did. But she obeyed. 

“Let me help you,” Diana said after a moment, considering the exact places she would be able to touch in order to lift her friend up without eliciting a cry of pain. Her options, she realised, were considerably limited. 

“Stop acting like you care,” Barbara barked, flinching away from her. “I gave up my wish. I am of no more use to you. You can stop it now.”

Diana’s flinch rivalled the other woman’s. She retreated her hands. Her heartbeat faltered. “You think I don’t care about you?” 

“On the contrary, I know how much exactly you care about me,” Barbara scoffed. She was looking at her now. And there was only rage dripping from those ocean blue eyes. “Enough as to completely ignore me as soon as your boyfriend is back in the picture. Enough for you to even tell me that, too. Enough to call me at 1am just to order that I drop everything to do some stupid research for you. Enough for you to think you’ve got any right to make my choices for me.” Her voice was cold, but cracks were beginning to make their way into it, betraying the hurt behind. Barbara let out what must have been an attempt at a laugh, but it lacked any humour. 

“And you know the worst part?” she pressed on, despite the tears starting to make their way into her eyes. “The worst part is that, despite everything, despite _knowing_ , I cared enough about you to do it all the same. That despite there being nothing of me left in myself, the stupid part that cared about you didn’t leave.” Her lips curled into a sad smile. “Quite pathetic, really.”

Diana clenched her jaw. If only she knew. “I care about you a lot more than you think.”

The blonde scoffed. The movement, however, tinged her expression with pain. She schooled it back before mocking, “You have a funny way of showing it.”

And it was true. She had known it since she’d started pushing her away. Too much of a coward to give any explanation. She knew that her hurt was not unfounded. But then those words resounded differently in her mind, and it occurred to Diana. She could still try to give the explanation that was owed, that her words had failed to give what seemed like an eternity ago. Even if it would be the end of their friendship. If there even was still a friendship to end. 

“Would you like me to show it to you?” she whispered. 

Barbara’s eyes were on hers once again, and she realised she was leaning a bit too much into the blonde. She didn’t back away. 

“What?” Barbara said, but it wasn’t a question because she didn’t understand. It was a question of disbelief. 

“Give me your hand,” she said, extending her own to her friend. She tried not to notice how it had sounded more like a plea than a request. 

Barbara stared at it in silence for what felt like minutes. Diana did not move her hand away, enduring the appraisal with a steely resolve, praying to the gods that it would not be shunned away. Despite knowing she would deserve such a treatment, she dared hope one more time today. 

And then Barbara took her hand. 

_ “Hi, I’m Barbara— Minerva. Barbara Minerva.  _ _Sorry, that sounded like I don’t know my own name. I promise I do,” she stammers, and Diana doesn’t trust her. Doesn’t trust her apparent openness. She doesn’t trust much of anyone these days, and the blonde before her is no exception. Something about her makes her nervous._

_ “Nice to meet you, Barbara Minerva. I’m Diana,” she smiles either way, ending the handshake briskly. “See you around.” _

_ “Oh, yeah. Sure.” _

_ And Diana is out of the room before she can say anything else.  _  
  


_They’re standing in her office now, a citrine stone hanging between them._

_ “Just a poor forgery, apparently,” Diana says, though something stirs in her mind. A warning. But of what, she’s not sure.  _

_ “Oh, well that’s pretty lame,” Barbara cuts her train of thought.  _

_ Diana finds herself smiling despite herself at the choice of words. This woman is truly something. “Hm.”  _

_ “Hey, Diana?” she speaks again, and she’s fidgeting with her hands, Diana notices. “Would you like to go out for lunch with me, sometime? Maybe? If you want to, I mean—”  _

_ “I think you’re asking the wrong person,” she interrupts, effectively silencing the other woman before she can embarrass herself further. “I make for pretty lame company.” _

_ “Oh, well… if it’s any consolation, I make for even lamer company. But— well, you’re the only person that really has been kind to me since I got here, so I thought maybe we could, I mean…” _

_ And there it is again. That maddening openness that she doesn’t deserve, that seems to serve no purpose. Why does she do that? What does she gain from exposing herself so completely like that? Diana can’t understand, but there’s something else there. Something she can’t quite place, but it intrigues her.  _

_ Or maybe, though this one she doesn’t let herself admit, she too could use some company, even if just for a couple of hours.  _

_ “Very well, let’s go,” Diana says as she grabs her coat.  _

_ “What, now?” But even as she protests, she can feel the blonde moving for her own coat, scrambling to follow.  _

_ Diana only smiles.  _

_ “I can’t believe you don’t go out all that much. I mean, looking at you, you’d think you live out. You’re so beautiful and sexy and cool, I’m sure you have a ton of friends,” Barbara is saying, almost too quick for it to sound like anything more than nervous giggling. But Diana is listening intently all the same, like she has been to every word the blonde has said to her today.  _

_ “I can’t believe  _ you _don’t live out. You’re so outgoing and funny and nice,” Diana says back._

_ The blonde gives a nervous laugh. “Come on, I was being serious!”  _

_ “So was I.” And she means it. The last hour has been the most pleasant she’s spent in anyone’s company in a while, to Diana’s surprise. Though that, she doesn’t say.  _

_ Instead, she looks into eyes blue as the sea, eyes that have captivated her since she allowed herself to look, and tries for the umpteenth time this meal to figure out what it is about Barbara that makes her unable to stop looking. Perhaps it’s just that she is so different from her she finds it alluring. Or perhaps it’s the feeling that they are not, in fact, so different. Because in those pools of blue, she finds something extremely familiar. Something she sees in herself every time she looks in the mirror. A crippling loneliness. One that unlike herself, Barbara has the courage to fight by putting herself out there. _

_ That kind of courage and strength, Diana doesn’t think she’s seen before.  _

_ But it calls to her.  _

_ “Thank you so much for taking me here,” Barbara says, averting her gaze to turn to the window. “It’s a lovely place. My gosh, the views here are amazing.” _

_ And it really is. High above the city, it commandeers a view of every building as far as the Capitol, the clouds sometimes low enough to touch if you only reached out. That’s why it’s her favourite restaurant in the city. But, Diana belatedly realises as she too turns, she hasn’t looked at the views once this lunch. She doesn’t let herself dwell on it.  _

_ “Diana, I—”  _

_ “Would you like to have lunch with me again tomorrow?” she says before she can think better of it, before Barbara can thank her again for something that needs no thanking. Before she loses the courage to try that the other seems to find so easily.  _

_ “I would… I would love that,” she smiles.  _

_ One more lunch turns into another, and another, and before either of them knows it, it is a given. And always, it’s something Diana finds herself looking forward to. They talk about nothing and everything under the sun, about life and love and plants and walkmans and Whitney Huston, and Diana starts to think of her more and more as a friend. Yet somehow, it doesn’t seem enough.  _

_ After an unfortunate incident one night involving a drunkard with hands too long for his own good, their meetings increase to include an hour lesson in personal defense. Diana didn’t really think Barbara would take her up on that one, but she is more than eager to learn. And Diana wishes nothing more than for her friend to be able to take care of herself in situations like that. She loves the Earth, but there are times she misses Themyscira terribly, especially when men are involved. So she teaches her the first lesson Antiope taught her:  _ use their own momentum against them. _And Barbara does quite well._

_ And then, dinners and movies and late-night meetings are woven into their daily lives, without either of them really noticing. But those blue eyes are now a constant in Diana’s life, always so clever, so warm. So kind. And, Diana one day suddenly realises, she’s never been quite as happy. Just, content. At peace.  _

_ And then of course, because no good thing can last forever, it all starts to go wrong. A man named Max Lord is suddenly in the picture, making inquiries and waving money, too much money too loudly for it to be truly an act of philanthropy, around. Diana doesn’t like him, and she definitely doesn’t trust him. It has nothing to do, she tells herself, with the way Barbara seems to be enticed by him. But when his gaze turns towards a certain amber stone, she knows she is right in her judgement.  _

_ And then there’s the event.  _

_ She has a plan. Keep Max Lord in sight. If he is scheming to steal the stone, this is the moment he’d choose, with enough public to go almost undetected. But not from her. So she arrives early, and waits.  _

_ And then she sees her.  _

_ Hard to miss, really, when the crowd parts for her like the Red Sea. She looks beautiful as ever, with her blonde hair cascading freely on her shoulders and a very elegant black dress that fits her oh so well. And when she smiles, it’s not only her breath that gets caught. Barbara is stunning.  _

_ It’s only when a figure makes its way to her friend that she realises she’s been staring for longer that should probably be considered appropriate. But, to her luck, the figure seems to be exactly the man she’d been looking for. Max Lord is holding two glasses of champagne and talking closely to Barbara, who in turn seems to be laughing nervously and fidgeting with her hands. Which Diana takes as her queue to intervene.  _

_ “Diana!”  _

_ “Not now, Carl,” she huffs as she skilfully dodges the man, making her way quickly down the stairs.  _

_ When she reaches the bottom, however, all her resolve goes up in smoke. For the glasses now lay forgotten on the marble railing, and Barbara no longer seems uncomfortable. On the contrary, her hands are firm and still as she holds Max Lord’s lapels and kisses him. And suddenly, her plan of keeping an eye on him doesn’t seem all that important anymore.  _

_ And feelings that she had kept hidden, kept guarded even from herself, are suddenly too powerful to ignore any longer.  _

_ “Diana,” someone calls again, and it’s all she can do to tear herself away from blue eyes that have locked with hers at the mention of her name. She walks fast away.  _

_ “Diana!”  _

_ “Look, I don’t know who you are, so if you would just—”  _

_ And then she realises. When he places a watch in her hand, she sees. Sees blond hair and blue eyes that she had lost long ago, eyes that are almost the same as the ones she wants. That she cannot have.  _

_ And if she closes her eyes, it’s almost enough.  _

_ So she lets herself be swept under, lets herself push Barbara away.  _

“It was easier,” Diana said, disentangling the Lasso of Truth from the other woman’s hand. The haze of memories that still floated around them was slowly dissipating, and Diana forced herself to tear away from the ghost of warm smiles, and deep, kind blue eyes, “not to tell you. To distance myself before I fell in deeper, before I did something that I couldn’t take back. And when Steve showed up, it was all I could do to grab onto him to distance myself from you. No matter how that would hurt, because it would hurt less than losing you to feelings I realise can’t be returned. I needed to let you go before I burnt myself and you in the process. Before I ruined our friendship with feelings the world isn’t ready for yet.”

She can’t bring herself to look up into Barbara’s eyes as she speaks. Antiope would surely scold her for that, for her weakness. Would scold her for many of the things that she had done today. But Diana couldn’t bring herself to care. Right now, she only cared about one thing. And she couldn’t even look at her. 

“But it seems I managed to do just that either way,” she forced herself to continue, pushing through the knot that had taken ahold of her throat. “And I’m sorry I let you believe it was because I didn’t care for you, when the truth is I was scared of how much I did.”

What follows is the only thing that can follow such a statement. Silence. Which doesn’t mean it’s any easier to bear. But Diana does, because even if she wanted to move away, she doubted her legs would oblige. And she has so much more to say, many more apologies that are waiting to be voiced, questions to be asked, but they refuse to come out either. So Diana just waits, and a small part in the back of her mind that she does her best to shut out, dares hope. Hope for what, however, she’s not entirely sure. 

And then the silence is finally broken. And only then does Diana find the courage to look up, only to find Barbara’s body shaking more violently now, slightly doubling over. Alarm bells ring off in her mind until she realises… Barbara’s laughing. 

“You are in love with me?” the blonde manages between giggles that sound more pained than amused, but her laugh. Diana hadn’t heard that laugh from her in many weeks. She allows herself to feel the warmth spreading through her very soul at hearing it again. Allowing it to shield her from whatever’s to come. 

“That’s very lame.” 

And Diana can’t help but laugh too. Of course that’s what she would have to say about it. 

“I guess you’re right.” 

She doesn’t have time to feel the wave of relief or concern or contentment that are fighting to wash over her at her friend’s answer. Because before the winner of her inner turmoil can take over, a warm touch is grazing her cheek, and the hand that she hadn’t realised she’d never let go of entwines her fingers with her own. 

“It would be a whole lot less lame if I didn’t feel the same way about you.”

Diana is unsure of how much time passed then, as her whole world turned upside down and yet somehow seemed to completely still. As she heard words she had never even dared hoped she’d hear. And yet. There they were. So very brave. So very real. 

She is also unsure of how a smile too big for it to be comfortable appeared on her face or for how long it was mirrored in Barbara’s own, only that it was there. And Diana wanted nothing more than to stay like this forever, warm and safe in her friend’s, her Barbara’s, soft touch and gaze. 

“Diana, can I— I mean, if you want. But I have to ask you first. God I’m making this weird, sorry. Can I kiss you?” 

Diana’s answer came in the form of lips capturing lips before they could utter a single more word. And gods, it felt so right, Diana couldn’t believe she’d ever thought it wrong in the first place. Soft lips quickly turned greedy, and hands desperate to hold onto one another as they explored and tongues fought, though none searching to come out victorious. They both gave as good as they got, and it was so much and yet so little, and their bodies pulled closer, looking for more contact, more of each other. 

And then a cry tore them apart. 

“I’m so sorry,” Barbara panted, letting out a small laugh even as she struggled for breath, her hair sinfully mussed. Her hands were clutched at her side. “That one’s on me. Injured me doesn’t make for the most resilient kisser. I also may be dying, so I’m hanging onto that to explain it. Being a _gemology_ doctor sucks at moments like these.” 

Diana could only smile. “Don’t worry, you’re not dying. No internal bleeding either, I would say, so that’s a good sign. The worst part seems to be the bruises and a potentially fractured rib, but I think that one’s unlikely.”

“Of course you would know that,” she scoffed, but her tone betrayed only amusement. “And manage to reassure me and frighten the hell out of me at the same time.”

“Well, many years of experience among humans has taught me a few things.”

“White lies being obviously not one of them.”

“I’m afraid not,” Diana laughed. She disentangled their hands, however, only allowing herself to mourn the loss for half a second before she got to her feet. “Come on, let’s get you to a hospital.”

“That sounds like a great idea. Except for the part where, you know, we’re a bit like in a secret island in the middle of the—” The rest of her rant was swallowed in a squeal as Diana picked her up unceremoniously and yet ever so delicately from the ground. When Barbara next opened her eyes, she was safely in Diana’s arms, being carried like she weighed nothing at all, and already halfway out of the building. 

“Oh, I could get used to this,” she said with that nervous laugh that made Diana’s body feel a little bit warmer.

_Yes_ , she thought. _Yes, you could_. 

***

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and before Diana knew it, warm summer breezes turned to snow, and the streets were white and full of life. In the square, people gathered around the big luminous tree that crowned it while children played in the snow. Hot chocolate and sweet coffee was sold at every stand every few feet, and the smells of the city were muffled under the white mantle that covered it all. It was, as they called it, the happiest season, and Diana could see why. 

“Oh, sorry miss!” a young voice called from behind as soon as the stray snowball hit her back. She couldn’t help but smile. 

“It’s okay,” she told the girl, who was holding both of her hands in front of her comically wide-open mouth. “You’ve got a good arm.”

The girl’s frightened expression immediately melted, and instead she laughed. _Thank you miss, merry Christmas!_ she said to her, but Diana didn’t hear it, for another laugh, this one softer but even brighter than the girl’s had been, had her full attention.

“Good arm?” the voice said, an amused lilt that Diana heard every time more and more colouring it. A happiness to it that she couldn’t get enough of. 

“Well it’s true,” she answered, with what she knew was the same contentment mirrored in her own voice. “She wouldn’t have been able to hit me if it wasn’t.” 

“Hmm,” the other hummed, planting a warm cup of coffee in Diana’s hands and a soft kiss on her cheek. 

“Merry Christmas, Diana.” 

Diana reached over to the other woman, her hand coming to rest softly at her cheek, and then the world faded around them as their lips met in the middle. Or, more precisely, they faded from the world. Being an immortal magic being did come with its perks. 

Maybe the world wasn’t ready for it yet. But she was. They were. And, as she held tighter onto Barbara and the snow continued to fall around them, she knew. It was enough. 

“Merry Christmas, Barbara Minerva.”

And she kissed her again.

**Author's Note:**

> so, in the writing of this, i realised barbara couldn't give up her wish because of PLOT (??? i think? i don't much understand the dc), which i then proceeded to completely ignore and keep writing this anyway. hope you enjoyed this as much as i enjoyed screaming "fucKING chris PINE" as soon as i left the theatre. thank you for reading. please come scream with me in the comments if you've got a moment, it would soothe my troubled soul <3
> 
> and if you wanna take the yelling elsewhere, come talk to me on tumblr @[queen-calanthe-of-cintra](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/queen-calanthe-of-cintra). i promise no quality content whatsoever, but at least it's gay :)


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